• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, July 12, 2007 1 PM

In an effort to jump-start anemic sales of mobile devices, Best Buy late last year tied up with Carphone Warehouse Group PLC--Europe's largest independent retailer of mobile phones--to offer 90 cell phone handsets across eight carriers in 13 of its stores. It previously sold a small selection of phones with subscription plans from just four carriers. Best Buy also beefed up training of its staff, with the added time focused on mobile devices.

Best Buy now plans to roll out the format across 180 stores in 12 states by February. With carriers' voice plans becoming increasingly similar, independent retailers are better positioned to win more business with a larger selection of phones.

Best Buy's initial push was a success. An analyst presentation made by Carphone Warehouse in April showed that mobile-phone sales in Best Buy Mobile stores increased almost overnight. During last year's Thanksgiving holiday, sales were up almost 2 1D2 times from a year earlier, to about 250 phones per store. Through the Christmas week, it sold close to 350 phones per store.

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